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EVHIIG SCHOOLS HID DISTRICT LIBRARIES 



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IN BEHALF OF 



IMPROVED MEANS OF EDUCATION AND SELF-CULTURE, 



FOR 



APPRENTICES AND YOUNG WORKMEN. 



V 



BFIIIIII SCHOOLS AID DISTRICT LIBRARIES 



Hw Uipffliirsil U WMim$l$M&m, 



IN BEHALF OP 



IMPROVED MEANS OF EDUCATION AND SELF-CULTURE, 



POR 



APPRENTICES AND YOUNG WORKMEN, 



PHILADELPHIA: 
KING & BAIKD, PKINTERS, No. 9 SANSOM STREET. 

1850. 



■T/Rr 



At an adjourned meeting of Citizens, held December 20, 
1849, in the Atheneum Building, the following resolution was 
adopted. 

Resolved, That an Executive Committee, consisting of ten 
members, be appointed, to take such steps as they may think 
expedient to promote the establishment of Evening Schools 
and District Libraries, and such other measures as they may 
think calculated to benefit the classes designated in the call of 
this meeting. 

The Committee appointed under this resolution are — 

Alonzo Potter, 
John A. Brown, 
Joseph R. Ingersoll, 
John Farnum, 
F. A. Packard, 
Geo. M. Wharton, 
Wm. D. Kelley, 
John Blddle, 
Geo. H. Stuart, 
Wm. Welsh. 






APPEAL. 

Several gentlemen concerned for the welfare of the 
Apprentices and Young Workmen of the City and 
County of Philadelphia, and deeply sensible of the 
disadvantages under which they labour, met in No- 
vember last to deliberate on the subject. Near the 
same time, benevolent individuals, in different parts 
of the City and Districts, undertook to establish, for 
the benefit of this class of our population, Evening 
Schools and Lectures. Their efforts were soon seconded 
by the enlightened action of the Controllers of the 
Public Schools, who early in January directed that, 
until the first of April ensuing, nine of their buildings 
should be opened for the same purpose. 



SCHOOLS AND CRIME. 



This movement is hailed as one full of promise. 
Philadelphia has long won honour to herself by her 
munificent provisions for succoring the destitute and 
reclaiming the criminal. Within the last twenty years 
she has gained still greater honour by the generous and 
sagacious efforts she has made to replace, in respect to 
both crime and pauperism, a system of Remedy by one 
of Prevention. Her Common Schools have been added 
to her Churches ; and within these Seminaries between 
forty and fifty thousand of her children are now receiv- 
ing the rudiments of mental and moral culture. This 
wise and liberal policy has not been in vain. Though 
the increase of population has been rapid, almost be- 
yond precedent, and, though this increase consists, in a 
large degree, of operatives from different countries, of 
whom many are imperfectly educated, still crime — if 
we except such as may be incidental to street riots — 
has diminished, A comparison of the number of com- 



6 

mitments and convictions for five successive years, be- 
ginning with 1844, demonstrates that while there has 
been an annual increase of at least five per cent, in the 
population, there has been diminution, rather than 
increase in crime. In respect to pauperism, there has 
been a slight increase — but one by no means propor- 
tioned to the growth of population* 

It is but justice to our Public Schools to add, that 
no graduate of the High School has ever been arraigned 
before our Courts on a criminal charge, and that no 
pupil of any Public School, who had passed the third 
division of a Grammar School, is known to have been 
convicted.f 

It is not claimed that this cheering result should be 
ascribed to education alone ; but it is believed that in 
proportion as the subject is thoroughly examined, this 
will be found to have been one of the most powerful 
of the causes. 

Nor is it claimed that mere intellectual culture is a 
perfect guarantee for the good conduct of those who 
receive it. It should not be forgotten, however, that 
though apparently employed in imparting only secular 
knowledge, every well regulated school must, even in 
performing that work, be instrumental in forming good 

* See the Charge addressed by Judge Kelly to the Grand Jury in April, 
1849, which contains tables carefully prepared from official sources. 

f See Address of the Hon. Wm. D. Kelly, delivered at the opening of 
the House of Refuge for Colored Children. 



habits and in cultivating the better affections of our 
nature. In the Evening and Day Schools of this city 
much of the instruction and discipline is dispensed by 
intelligent and well principled females, and it would 
not be easy to over-rate the benign influence which 
their presence, example, and teaching must have over 
the ruder minds of the other sex, and especially over 
those advancing to manhood. In the Evening Schools, 
in addition to the regular Teachers, many benevolent 
citizens and School Directors are actively co-operating, 
and thus the least educated of our population are 
brought into kindly and fraternal intercourse with the 
more enlightened — to the abatement of jealousy and 
the development of good feelings and principles. And, 
what is still more important, the order maintained in 
every good school, the submission to authority exacted, 
the appeals successfully made to the reason and moral 
sense of the pupils, are so many precious lessons in 
practical morality, which must contribute greatly to 
the formation of good habits. It is on these grounds 
that the undersigned, in common with all enlightened 
friends of Popular Education, anticipate great service 
to the general interests of society from the multipli- 
cation of good schools. It is not so much that they 
communicate knowledge, as that, in doing so, they lay 
the foundation of self-restraint and self-improvement. 



8 



EVENING SCHOOLS. 

These are needed as well as Day Schools. They are 
needed for many under sixteen years of age, who attend 
, no Day School. Newsboys may be taken as representa- 
tives of this class, though they form but a small part of 
it. The consequence of leaving such lads exposed and 
without education, may be inferred from the fact, that 
of all minors arrested for larceny in the city of Boston 
in the years 1846 and 1847, about one half were news- 
boys ! 

Evening Schools are needed again for many over 
sixteen. Those opened within the last few months in 
this vicinity, have, with one or two exceptions, ex- 
cluded boys under that age. Yet, of those received, 
as many as one in ten could not read at all — nearly, or 
quite one half, could read only in the most imperfect 
manner — and not more than one quarter could work 
sums in Vulgar Fractions. This result will not seem 
surprising if we consider how many young persons are 
constantly added to our population from abroad, "and 
also how many of the children of our own inhabitants 
are excluded from day schools, (either altogether, or 
for the most part,) by the necessities or the negligence 
of their friends. 



9 

Evening Schools are needed yet further— /or many 
who desire or need instruction in the higher branches — 
such as Geography, the rudiments of Geometry and 
Mensuration, Designing, Drawing, Elementary Che- 
mistry, Mechanics and Engineering, History, &c. — 
Many young men of this class have applied for instruc- 
tion in the Evening Schools, but without success — the 
means at the disposal of the Directors not being equal 
to the employment of teachers in such branches. "Were 
rooms provided in which voluntary classes could be form- 
ed, it is believed that large numbers would at once avail 
themselves of the opportunity, and would also pay a 
considerable part of the charges for instruction. 

Finally : Evening Schools are needed as an auxiliary 
to the police force of the city and county. No observing 
person can have failed to remark the startling increase, 
within a few years, in the proportion of juvenile 
offenders. It is not a fact peculiar to Philadelphia; 
though it may be feared, that owing to various local 
causes, it has grown upon us faster than upon most 
American cities. It is to be ascribed in part to the 
rapid development of certain branches of industry, in 
which a large proportion of the operatives are young. 
It is to be attributed also to a too prevailing relaxation 
in the bands of parental authority; to a deplorable 
want of care and control over apprentices when they 
are not at work; to jealousies subsisting between rival 
associations of young men and boys ; to old animosi- 



10 

ties between those who inhabit different localities, or 
profess different religious creeds ; and last, though not 
least, to the impunity with which disorder and outrage 
have been perpetrated. Back, however, of all these 
causes, there lies another most fruitful in mischief, and 
from which each of them derives much of its strength 
and activity. It is the want of proper places to which 
the young can resort, and in which they can find 
innocent recreation or useful employment, during their 
hours of leisure, and especially at night. 

Idleness is ever an abounding source of evil and 
misconduct. What, then, may not be anticipated from 
the idleness of boys and young men congregated in 
large numbers in the streets — full of reckless courage 
and lust of adventure — subject to manifold occasions 
of excitement — banded together perhaps by vows of 
fellowship and mutual support — unawed by a united 
and efficient police — often sheltered by darkness — and 
fired, it may be, by the remembrance of wrongs still 
unavenged. Yet it is to the street alone that many of 
these young men and boys can be expected to resort. 
After the evening meal is finished, and until the hour 
for sleep arrives, the homes of many of them offer 
neither attraction nor restraint. If they have money, 
the cheap theatre, the bowling alley, the gaming house, 
the well warmed and well lighted tippling shop holds 
out its lure — and through that lure, multitudes of un- 
suspecting youths are yearly drawn down to the gates 



11 

of the Destroyer. Money, however, is that which 
most of them want. Hence, in many instances, petty 
thefts, to enable them to compass the means of indul- 
gence — hence, more frequently, street gatherings for 
the younger, and meetings in the Hose House or 
Engine House for the elder. Hence, the bands that 
we often pass at the corners of streets, and the throngs 
that gather round the avenues to each place of vulgar 
amusement. Hence, fire-alarms are raised, and too 
often fires are even kindled, that hostile companies 
may be brought into conflict, and the opportunity for 
tumultuous excitement enjoyed. The aggregate result 
is seen in a spirit of wide-spread misrule among the 
young, which, by its outbreaks, has often brought dis- 
grace on the community, sacrificed many valuable 
lives, destroyed a vast amount of property, turned 
capital and enterprise from the city to locations less 
exposed to outrages and tumults, subjected multitudes 
to extreme terror, and often to great danger, and 
which, at this moment, may well fill the heart of every 
reflecting citizen with anxious foreboding. 

Yet the evil is not without remedy, and that remedy, 
at least in part> is cheap, peaceful and simple. Expe- 
rience proves, that a comfortable school room, with 
instruction and supervision from intelligent and con- 
scientious persons, will at once draw large bodies of 
these lads and young men within their walls. Experi- 
ence demonstrates, too, that when once admitted, they 



12 

become attached to their teachers, interested in their 
studies, and respectful to the authority of the school.* 



* The subjoined letter and tabular statement embody some 
of the evidence on this point. 

February 18, 1850. 
Rt. Rev. and Dear Sir : — 

I hand you accompanying a condensed statement of the 
replies to the queries propounded to the Principals of the 
several Evening Schools now in session in Philadelphia City 
and County, or more properly of the principal schools, for 
there are several smaller ones in operation which are not 
included in the statement. One of these, located near Schuyl- 
kill Third and Walnut streets, under the care of the Public 
School Directors, was opened on the 28th ulto., for the benefit 
of lads under 16 years of age, who are excluded from the 
other Public Schools. The Principal of this school (a female) 
reports 70 pupils on her register, and an average attendance 
of 60. She says, « the conduct of the pupils to their teacher 
is respectful, with scarcely an exception." " The nightly im- 
provement of the scholars is such as would satisfy the most 
exacting." 

In relation to District Libraries and Reading Rooms, I 
requested the Principals of the several schools located in the 
City proper, and in such of the adjacent districts as had been 
named for the establishment of one within its bounds, to make 
known to their pupils the effort being made by the Executive 
Committee " to secure the establishment of District Libraries, 
where, for a trifling sum, they might have the privilege of fre- 
quenting a commodious room, well warmed, lighted and venti- 
lated, and in which they might sit and read the books of a well 
selected library, and hear, from time to time, lectures calculated 
to instruct and interest them ;" and, after stating these facts, to 
ascertain and report to the Committee the number who ex- 
pressed a wish to avail themselves of the use of such libraries 
when established. 

Unfortunately, the Principals of several of the schools did 
not clearly understand the question which I wished them to 
put to their pupils, and thus, in some of the schools, they 
neglected to get for us the desired information. 



13 

Experience shows yet further, that this amelioration 
in manners and deportment extends from the school- 



From a large majority of the schools, however, replies have 
been received, showing that about nine-tenths of the pupils 
present are desirous to avail themselves of the advantages 
when offered ; and that, in many cases, they came forward 
voluntarily and offered to subscribe in aid of the undertaking. 
"Very resnectfully yours, &c, 

JNO. BIDDLE. 

Rt. Rev. Alonzo Potter, D. D., 

Chairman "Executive Committee of Ten." 

QUERIES. 

I. What number of pupils have been registered in the school 
of which you have charge ? 

II. What number do you suppose have applied for admission 
to the school, beside those registered ? 

III. Have you found your pupils eager to learn, or have they 
manifested a want of interest in the exercises of the school ? 

IV. Have you found any serious difficulty in preserving good 
order during the school exercises ? 

SUBSTANCE OF ANSWERS. 

Public Schools. 

South West, P. A. Cregar, Principal, Ashton street near Lombard street, City. 
I. Two hundred and seventeen. 
II. None of proper age. 

III. All anxious to learn, excepting twelve or twenty of the younger pupils. 

IV. School much more orderly than I expected, or even ventured to hope. 
North East, G. A. Piper, Principal, New street above Front street, City. 

I. One hundred and ninety-four. 
* IL About forty. 

III. Pupils extremely anxious to learn. They complain that the session is too short. 
1 IV. Order excellent. 

Mifflin, G. B. Stockdale, Principal, Third street above Brown street, N. Liberties. 
I. Two hundred and seventy. 
II. Four hundred and eighty-six. 
< III. The interest taken by the pupils in their studies, may be seen by^the absentee- 
ism, which in no instance has exceeded ten. 

IV. No difficulty whatever. 

Mount Vernon, John Joyce, Principal, Catherine street above Third street, South- 
ward 
I. One hundred and thirty-five. 
II. About two hundred and fifty. 

III. Without an exception much interested. 

IV. No difficulty. 



14 

room to the street, the work-shop, and the home. Most 
gratifying facts have reached the Committee in illustra- 
tion of this last remark, and they are precisely such 



Monroe, B. E. Chamberlin, N. H. Maguire, Teachers, Buttonwood street below 
Eleventh street, Spring Garden. 

I. Two hundred and eighty-six. 

II. Over one hundred and fifty. 

HI. The pupils manifest no want of interest in the exercises of the school. 
IV. No difficulty in preserving order. 

West Philadelphia, H. E. Warriner, Principal, West Philadelphia. 
I. One hundred and eleven. 
n. About 12 under proper age. 

III. The pupils have manifested the utmost eagerness to learn. 

IV. No difficulty whatever in maintaining order. 

Einggold, Wm. Eoberts, Principal, Eighth and Fitzwater streets, Moyamensing. 
I. Three hundred and seven. 

II. None residing in Moyamensing. 

III. The pupils generally have manifested much anxiety to learn. 

IV. No difficulty in preserving order. 

Harrison, A. B. Ivins, Principal, Master street, near Second street, Kensington. 
I. Two hundred and eighty. 

II. About one hundred and seventy. 

III. The pupils, with a few exceptions, have evinced an unusual desire to improve. 

IV. No difficulty in disciplining the pupils. 
Carroll, Richmond. 

I. One hundred and thirty-five. 
n. None over 16 years. 
HI. The pupils, with three or four exceptions, have manifested great interest in 

the exercises of the school. 
IV. There is no difficulty in preserving good order. 
Eising Sun, Eising Sun. 
I. Ninety-nine. 
II. None over 16 years. 

III. The pupils, with three qf four exceptions, have manifested great interest in 

the exercises of the school. 

IV. There is no difficulty in preserving good order. 

Private Schools. 

Logan, J. A. Kirkpatrick, Principal, Callowhill street, west of Schuylkill Third 
street, Spring Garden. 
I. Two hundred and seventeen. 
n. About seventy-five. 

III. With a few exceptions among those 14 or 15 years of age, there is manifested 

by the pupils an eager desire to learn. 

IV. Not the least difficulty in preserving the best order. 

Gurney, W. W. Wood, Principal, Corner Thirteenth and Lombard streets. 

I. One hundred and forty. 

II: About twenty under sixteen years, and six or eight of proper age. 
HI. The great mass appear eager to leam, and all manifest an interest in the 

exercises of the school. 
IV. I find no serious difficulty at all. 
St. Matthew's, Wm. Sterling, Jr., Francisvifie. 

I. Eighty. 
II. About fifteen. 

III. A large majority are attentive to their studies. 

IV. No serious difficulty. 

German town, H. K. Smith, Principal, Germantown. 
I. One hundred and twenty-two- 
II. None 

III. Almost universally attentive and eager to learn. 

IV. No difficulty. 



15 

facts as might have been anticipated. Awaken in the 
young feelings of kindness and gratitude — inspire a 
sense of self-respect and a desire for knowledge and 
improvement — teach experimentally the pleasure and 
advantage of sustaining order and authority in a small 
community like the school, and we have then a strong- 
pledge for their good behaviour at all times, and in all 
places. 

The undersigned would by no means underrate other 
measures for abating the evil under consideration. 
They cheerfully recognize their necessity and impor- 
tance, and they are ready to yield them earnest sup- 
port. It has been made their duty, however, on this 
occasion, to call the attention of citizens to specific 
means which combine, as they think, in a remarkable 
degree the properties of a remedial and a preventive 
agent. They will contribute much to heal the exist- 
ing malady ; they will contribute yet more to prevent 
its recurrence. They submit therefore as one of these 
means, that Evening Schools ought to he engrafted on 
the existing system of Public Instruction in the city and 
county of Philadelphia. Those well acquainted with 
the subject, feel assured that ten thousand young 
persons who most need instruction, and who if not 
engaged in receiving it, will prove a constant source 
of disturbance, may during the next winter, be gather- 
ed into Evening Schools. The expense of maintaining 
those Schools during six months of each year, is likely 



to be but a small part of the amount which must 
ultimately be absorbed through the agency of the same 
persons if, left to themselves, they pass their earlier 
years in licentious disorder, their later in crime and 
reckless poverty. 



DISTKICT LIBEAEIES AND EEADING ROOMS. 

Thus far the undersigned have urged but a part of 
the system of measures which they are charged to lay 
before you. In recommending that Evening Schools 
be multiplied and placed under the direction of the 
Controllers, and sustained at the public expense, they 
appeal especially, of course, to those who pay taxes. 
But they have now to ask a moment's hearing from 
those who, in addition to burthens imposed by law, do 
not shrink from others imposed by an enlightened 
sense of duty, and by a generous interest in the 
welfare of all classes of their fellow citizens. That 
there are many in the city and county of Philadelphia 
who rejoice in the opportunity of doing service to 
mankind, and who only wait to be convinced that a 
plan is feasible and useful, is sufficiently evident from 
all the past. 

To such the undersigned would present the condi- 
tion of very many of both sexes, and of different ages, 
whose improvement cannot be provided for in Evening 
Public Schools. They are either too much occupied 



17 

or too much advanced in knowledge. They need, 
however, a comfortable and respectable retreat, where 
they can pass a quiet hour in reading good books, 
or in listening to instructive and entertaining lectures. 
Others, who are younger or less advanced in know- 
ledge, would be willing — if opportunity were given — to 
enter upon studies higher than those pursued in the 
Public Grammar Schools. For these last, rooms might 
be provided, in which, under teachers employed by 
themselves, or by others acting in their behalf, they 
could prosecute such branches as might best comport 
with their interests or tastes. During one-half the 
year, also, Evening Schools are not likely to be kept ; 
and it is much to be desired that at such times there 
should be other places of resort where the tastes and 
habits developed in the school room, can be cherished 
rather than discouraged. 

In order to provide this complement to our system of 
public instruction — this necessary aid in the work of 
self-culture — a work difficult to all, but especially diffi- 
cult to those whose means are limited, and whose lot 
is labour — it is proposed that six buildings be erected ; 
each to contain a Library and Lecture Room, which 
can be used also as a Reading Room, and each to have 
a suite of smaller apartments for voluntary pupils in 
Drawing, Mathematics, Physics, &c. It is proposed 
that one of these buildings be placed in each of the 
Districts of Kensington, Northern Liberties, Spring 



18 

Garden, Moyamensing, and South wark, and one in the 
western part of the city proper. That the sum re- 
quisite for erecting and furnishing the buildings, and 
placing in each a library worth one thousand dollars, 
be raised by subscription ; and that the land on which 
the buildings are to be erected, shall also be given by 
the respective Districts, or by individuals. It is fur- 
ther proposed that such arrangements be made that 
the buildings cannot be perverted from their original 
purposes, and that those to be immediately benefited 
by them, shall, as far and as fast as experience may 
authorize, be invested with an active part in the con- 
trol and management of the Library, Lectures, and 
other Exercises. 

It has been ascertained that the six buildings, each 
being two stories in height, and sixty feet long by forty 
wide — may be erected in a plain, but substantial man- 
ner, and furnished, for the sum of twenty-four thousand 
dollars. Six thousand dollars more will be requisite to 
lay in each building the foundation of a proper library. 
Of this thirty thousand dollars, twenty-two have already 
been subscribed, but only on condition that the balance 
of eight thousand dollars, and six lots for the buildings be 
also contributed. At the meeting of citizens, under 
whose authority and direction this appeal is made, an 
earnest desire was expressed that the requisite means 
might be obtained early, so that the buildings can be 
completed, and furnished with libraries by the first of 



19 

October next. In order to effect thus promptly, an 
object which is believed to concern alike the welfare of 
a large and most important class of our people, and 
the general prosperity of the community, it is obvious 
that despatch is necessary. 

The subscribers therefore respectfully present the 
subject, and would ask for it your early attention. A 
form of subscription is annexed, which may be filled 
up and returned to either of the undersigned. If not 
returned within ten days, it will then be called for. 



CONCLUSION. 

The undersigned will not permit themselves to doubt 
that the amount needed to make up the sum of thirty 
thousand dollars, and to purchase the building-lots, will 
be supplied. The enterprise appeals to every holder of 
property, to every man of business, to every citizen 
anxious for the development of the industrial resources 
of Philadelphia. Our material prosperity can unfold 
itself with full effect only under the protection of law ; 
and law in this country can be upheld only by a public 



20 

opinion, which rests mainly on the intelligence and self- 
respect of that numerous class known as the working 
class. Our manufacturing energies, already great, will 
redouble their power in proportion as the young, who are 
soon to apply them, grow up with cultivated and disci- 
plined minds, and with honest purposes of duty.* Our 
property will be safe and productive only as we are 
inorally insured against the recurrence of riots and con- 
flagrations, which may at any time pour their destruc- 
tive violence on our estates, or even on our own homes, 
and which must in every instance lessen the value as 
well as the security of all property.f 

This enterprise appeals also to the patriot, philan- 
thropist, and Christian. The first desires the honour 
of his native or adopted city. The second is anxious 
to see that happiness diffused, which is satisfying only 
as it springs from knowledge, from a due exercise of 
the domestic and social affections, and from an active 
and intelligent discharge of our various duties. The 



* It ought to be known that the reputation which the boys of Philadel- 
phia are gaining for disorder and insubordination, prevents many em- 
ployers from receiving them as apprentices into their establishments. 

f It is difficult of course to estimate the loss which has been sustained 
from this cause during the last ten years. To the property actually 
destroyed, we should have to add the amount lost through the frequent 
suspension of labour by large numbers of persons, and through the 
diminished productiveness both of capital and labour, applied under 
circumstances of so much insecurity. 



21 

third is anxious for the diffusion and prevalence of 
a Faith which lifts men above earthly vicissitudes, 
and endows them with a better inheritance than this 
world has to give. But in contributing to awaken and 
spread among the workmen of our city and among their 
families, a spirit of manly and generous self-culture, 
we at one and the same time contribute to each of 
these great ends. Our city will deserve and receive 
honour in proportion as pauperism and crime disappear 
— in proportion as the number of those living com- 
fortably, uprightly, and usefully, augments — in pro- 
portion as we apply to the various objects and uses of 
life, the collective intelligence and virtue of the ivhole 
people. Happiness will be promoted as men transfer 
to mental and moral culture, and to a legitimate 
activity, the strength now too often wasted in mindless 
drudgery, in random adventure, in reckless idleness, 
or in animal indulgence. Keligion, pure and uncle- 
filed, will flourish among the young, the more their 
hearts are predisposed, through the instruction and 
discipline of good schools, to serious reflection, and to 
an active employment of their higher faculties. It 
will flourish among those of every age, in proportion 
as they are won from idleness and dissipation, and are 
engaged in the improvement of their minds, and in the 
proper training and education of their families. In the 
name then of our common faith, our common humanity, 



22 

and our common abiding place, we ask jour co-opera- 
tion. 

Alonzo Potter, 
John A. Brown, 
Joseph R. Ingersoll, 
John Farnum, 
Frederick A. Packard, 
Geo. M. Wharton, 
George H. Stuart, 
William D. Kelley, 
John Biddle, 
William Welsh. 



23 



MONDAY EVENING, November 26, 1849. 

A number of gentlemen met this evening, by appoint- 
ment, at the rooms of J. J. Barclay, Esq., in the Athe- 
naeum Building, to consider the condition of a portion 
of the young men and children of the City and County, 
and to devise some mode of improving their moral and 
intellectual character. 

Jxo. A. Browx, Esq., was called to the Chair, and 
Edic. Olmstead appointed Secretary. 

After a discussion upon the matters alluded to by 
Bishop Potter, Hon. Judge Kelley, Rev. Dr. Yaughan, 
Prof. Hart, and Messrs. John Biddle, Townsend Sharp- 
less, S. V. -Merrick, Geo. 11 Wharton, William Welsh, 
and J. J. Barclay : the following resolutions were agreed 
to, namely — 

Resolved, That a Committee of five persons be ap- 
pointed to consider and report to a future meeting, on 
the causes of, and remedy for, juvenile depravity. 

Resolved, That a Committee of five be appointed to 
address the Clergy and Christian congregations on the 
same subject. 



24 

Resolved, That a Committee of three for the City 
and each of the Districts of the County, be appointed 
to call the public attention to the necessity of establish- 
ing Night Schools, and promoting other means for the 
improvement of the young. 

Resolved, That a Committee of three be appointed 
to confer with the Controllers of the Public Schools, 
and ascertain from them whether they are prepared to 
aid, in any manner, an effort to establish Night Schools. 

The Chairman was authorized to appoint the Com- 
mittees, and not to confine himself to the gentlemen 
present. 

Resolved, That when this meeting adjourn, it adjourn 
to meet on the third Monday in December. 

E. Olmsted, Secretary. 

The Chairman subsequently appointed the following 
Committees. 

Committee to Enquire and Report on the Causes of 
and Remedy for Juvenile Depravity. 

J. E. Ingersoll. Tho. Earp. 

F. A. Packard. W. Welsh. 

G. H. Stuart. 

Committee to Address the Clergy and Congregations. 
Rev. Dr. Demme. Hon. Judge Kelley. 

Hon. Joel Jones. M. L. Dawson. 

S. V. Merrick. 



25 



Committee to Confer with the Controllers. 

Isaac Hazlehurst. Jeremiah Hacker 

John Biddle. 

Committee to Address the Public. 
City. 
Geo. M. Wharton. Isaac Collins. 

Wm. Parker Foulke. 

Spring Garden. 
Isaac Ashmead. Jno. M. Ogden. 

Wm. S. Hallowell. 

Northern Liberties. 
Alex. Brown. Jno. J. Smith. 

Joseph Trotter. 

Kensington. 

Peter Ramho. Aid. John Clouds, 

Dr. Geo. W. Vaughan. 

MOYAMENSING. 

John D. George. Wm. J. Reed, 

Wm. J. Mullin. 

Penn District. 
Hon. Geo. M. Stroud. Joseph Wood. 

West Philadelphia. 
Thos. Allibone. Chas. Colladay. 

Dr. Jno. M. Pugh. 



26 

At the adjourned meetings in December, reports were 
received, and the Executive Committee appointed. 

At a subsequent meeting held at the same place on 
the 4th of February, 1850, the Chairman of the Execu- 
tive Committee, made a report, and offered the following 
resolutions, which were adopted by the meeting. 

Resolved, That the Executive Committee, appointed 
at a former meeting, be continued, with power to add 
to their number. 

Resolved, That this meeting having been made ac- 
quainted with the proposal to erect, by private contri- 
bution, in the several Districts, buildings to be devoted 
to the instruction and improvement of young work- 
men, through Libraries, Heading Kooms, Lectures, and 
Schools of Design, do cordially approve of the same. 

Resolved, That when the requisite funds have been 
subscribed, the Executive Committee shall assemble 
the contributors, to consider a plan for the proper appli- 
cation of the same, so as best to secure the permanent 
advantages contemplated. 



The undersigned were appointed at a meeting of 
citizens to ascertain the extent to which subscriptions 
can be obtained to erect and furnish Six Buildings for 
Library, Reading, Lecture, and School Rooms, in the 
western part of the City and adjoining Districts. This 
fund to be placed at the disposal of citizens, to be 
selected by the contributors, for the use of the Youth 
and Mechanics of the City and suburbs. 

John A. Brown, "} 

George H. Stuart, > Committee. 

William Welsh, J 



I hereby engage to contribute the sum of 
dollars to the above object. 



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